Merry Macarons!

Well, the festive season is one famous for bringing about change. People make new year's resolutions; they try to fix the supposed ills in either their characters or their bodies or their lives. Now, you probably think that this post is going to be one that explains why I'm so irked by new year's resolutions, but you're wrong. No, I am irked by new year's resolutions, but I'm not going to write about that particular subject right now.

In light of the holiday season, I'm going to do something out of the ordinary myself! I'm going to share something more than grievances with you! I'm going to share the sweeter, more-human side with you, and I hope you don't mind it.

It may be hard to believe that even I have a soul, but it's true. Sometimes, and only sometimes, I like to put criticizing aside and do something cute, like bake! Actually, at one point during this summer, I strongly considered going to Paris after high school to become a chef. That is a true fact. And, well, after I look at how these turned-out, it might just be a good idea!

Often, I actually cook huge (like, 10-course) meals for my family or friends. You can see proof of that on my mom's blog. But, last night, my mom informed me that she had bought almond meal. Being that it's the prime ingredient in Macarons, I decided to try my luck by making them! And, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. Macarons are difficult to make, but these turned out surprisingly well. I found the recipe on the French cooking site "Marmiton". That's where my knowledge of French came in handy. I was able to correctly read and interpret the recipe to make the beautiful macarons I did!

So, to break the saturation of whining posts here, here's a glimpse of what I made! Note that I put great effort into both the making of the macarons, and the photographing of the macarons. I tried to make them look very magazine-esque.

Now the recipe said to use red food coloring, but being the radical rebel I am, I used blue! Blue has zero to do with the filling flavors I chose. Oh yeah, here's a note: macaron shells are all the same, what differs them is the filling.

Now, I tried to make an Earl grey filling because that happens to be my favorite. Unfortunately, I failed at doing so, so I resorted to safer options. I made three different fills and they all turned out pretty good. The fills were: Lemon Curd, Chocolate and Blackberry.

I've made lemon curd before, so doing it again was no fuss. Making the chocolate filing was super easy because I just tempered some chocolate. And, the blackberry filling was actually making use o the blackberry jam I made over the summer. Right! You probably don't know this! Every summer, I go to Stanley Park and I pick blackberries. I make a jam out of them, and I preserve it in Mason jars. My father loves the jam because there's no nothing added. Literally, it's just blackberries. I made a lot of jam in the summer, so I still have jars left in the fridge. Yes, it's almost January, but my jam is a well-made preserve, so it is still good. Yesterday, when I took it out of the fridge, it was perfectly tasty. The macarons were delicious with it.

There was only one problem with the entire thing, and that was baking time. I made three batches of macarons, and one batch ended up a little over-done. Nonetheless, it was a quite a good little bake, and it was highly therapeutic to me to busy myself with such whimsical sweetness!

Thanks for reading! Maybe I'll post some more stuff like this here later.